Why Youths are Confused about their Path in South Sudan

By Tito Tong John, Nairobi, Kenya

Monday, 05 June 2023 (PW) – Many intellectuals said, “Being good at something isn’t enough reason to do it for the rest of your life as perceived by many others.” These days youths are told all the time to pursue what they are good at regarding their paths.

It is advice that leads many of them to feel confused about their future because there are times when what they’re good at clashes with what they’re passionate about in their society. An example, the society where I come from is so confused by the youths, and it’s because of personal interest that brought a mess or misunderstanding.

Society tends to disapprove when an 18-year-old can’t share what he wants to do for the rest of their life. But instead of putting unnecessary pressure on them, our elders should tell them that it’s ok not to have it all figured out.

Many of our elders are teachers or business professionals who can honestly admit they knew what they wanted to do for a path at the same age.

Path advice provided in schools and colleges that encourages youths to focus on what they’re good at can lead to them aspiring to be footballers, actors, or TV make-up artists because, at their age, that is what they might be good at.

However, there is an enormous mismatch between these aspirations and the jobs available when they leave school, college or university. That’s not to say they shouldn’t be encouraging an obvious talent, but there also has to be a degree of realism and teaching young people the importance of having a backup option.

Elders need to change how they advise young people to find their paths. Instead of focusing on what they should be doing, they should be helping them discover why they want to do it. The why guides the how, and the how guides the what.

For instance, a youngster may want to create beautiful projects that can change the country of South Sudan. It sounds general, but that passion could be translated into a path as an architect, a designer, a civil engineer, or an artist.

Or perhaps a student who has a desire to communicate with people to help solve their problems. How about a path as a journalist or a customer service advisor?

Parents and teachers have a crucial role in supporting youths as they can help them see that so much opportunity is available. Young people should be told that there isn’t a single path or one route to go down, but instead, there are various paths they could take that relate to their why.

You cannot tell someone their why, but having raised or known them for a substantial period, you can give them a nudge in the right direction.

Finding why matters at every age, especially at a young age, because it allows you to fashion your path yourself rather than having it shaped by circumstance. Until someone discovers why they want to do something, it’s ok to be confused about what they want to do.

How can youths be helped; the government can launch its path strategy with the aim of giving people the chance to find the right path for them. This is a positive move as the strategy focuses on giving everyone the right advice to build a rewarding path.

Online or internet platform enables youths to explore paths and qualifications as well as access modules and resources that give them insight into various roles so they can make an informed decision about what they wish to do in the future for the country of South Sudan.

In conclusion, tools like the above-mentioned and role models helping remove youngsters’ fear of not knowing what they want to do are crucial to helping them through a confusing and stressful time.

My elders, you need to try to give young people a chance to forge their own path in their own time rather than have it formed by others.

Tito Tong, the author, has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. He is pursuing a Master of Business Administration with a specialisation in Human Resources at the same institution. Before this, he worked with various radio institutions under the Catholic Radio Network in South Sudan. He now writes opinion pieces for the Dawn News Paper regularly. To contact him, you can reach him at his email address: tongkhamisa446@gmail.com.

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